The Forgotten Zodiac

((You, my friend, are scary. I have no idea what to think of this turn of events, other than...sfkjasdfk. -dies- I'm scared. .D.

Also, I feel you should know my plans for Obelisk's eventual demise. Would you like to hear my plan and tweak it or deny it?))

Malice screamed louder, finally being forced backwards an inch by their power. And then again. And again, until finally their power surged and he was flung completely out of the castle with a roar.

Once he was gone for a moment, Werr's Gauntlet calmed down, giving Seria the chance to run out and heal his broken arm. Welk hovered in front of his friend, saying "Werr, you saw how my fire affected him. That's because he's in my body. I can, in a way, kill myself. You need to use the Gauntlet's power on me, strengthen me. So I can finish him."

Cynyr's eyes had widened. "Welk, do you know how risky that is?!" he said. "Your body is too tiny for that much power!"

"What else do we do, then?" the Spectral asked.

Cynyr had no answer other than to glare and grind his teeth together.

((I'll probably tweak it more than anything, but sure. Let's hear it. :3))

"If we can just get Malice out of that body..." Werr looked up, spotting Obelisk on the couch. He realized that the Things had left the group alone for the time being; that was because they were literally swarming Obelisk, who was defenseless. He didn't cry out in pain or anything of the sort. He just sat there as they broke his bones and tore up his flesh. One had gotten his own arm and was hitting him with it playfully.

"Skies above," Werr sighed, raising the gauntlet again and throwing the Things away from the Eternal being with a wave of his hand. "Seria, go help him..." He said before looking back at Cynyr and Welk. "We can do it. Together, right?" He smiled weakly at the both of them.

((Aright. I've not thought it through completely yet, but the basic plan is that Welk will be the one to yank the life crystal out of Obelisk. That's why in Werr's nightmare of him being dead, his right arm was so badly burnt and tore up. And he'll die from it, but I promise he won't remain that way. Special plans are special.))

Seria ran over to Obelisk right as the shadows released Lexi. She sputtered for a moment, then pushed herself up and took hold of her heal staff, determined to help as much as she could. She ran over to Werr first, hugging him tightly and giving a small kiss before saying "I'll be back," and running to help Seria with Obelisk. She hugged the eternal being tightly, nearly starting to cry at his condition, but she pushed past her fear and helped Seria as much as she could, giving Obelisk a soft kiss on the side of his head.

Cynyr touched Werr's shoulder, saying "We're with you. You know that."

Welk nodded eagerly, saying "You've got a full life ahead of you, Werr! You met an awesome girl and you're going steady, and you've got all of these friends around you. There's no way in heck we're gonna let you down now!"

Werr stroked Welk once or twice, then turned and hugged Cynyr. "Thank you. Thank you. Together...we can do it...we have a chance. So...are you ready, Welk?" He asked with a small smile.

"I hate pain..." Obelisk gurgled weakly, literally broken all over and aching from every point on his body. "I want to die...Seria, kill me, please..." The pathetic groan was all that escaped his lips. "Kill me, kill me, kill me..."

((Perfect. Me gusta. It works splendidedly. :3))

((Yay. x3))

"You know if I could, I would," she said quietly, her voice regaining a tiny bit of emotion. She touched his hand softly, sighing, then got right back to work.

Welk nodded, saying "I'm giving it my all. You know it."

Cynyr hugged Werr back, then looked at Welk and said "If you die...Welk, you'll never be able to rest peacefully because I'll give you heck, even while I'm still alive. Do you hear me? Same for you, Werr."

Welk laughed, then flew over and poked Cynyr's forehead. "Alright then," he said, giving Werr a slight brush with his tail. "Let's do it."

((Also outside, it's massmayhem. Red skies, black clouds, harsh winds. Malice is angry.))

"Got it..." Werr nodded. "I appreciate it." He smiled slightly, then looked up at the hole in the rock wall that Malice had made. "Let's move now while we still can. Nate, do you think you'll be able to hold things down here if we take Naybrin? Malice will probably be flying, and we can't have Cynyr using all of his energy on those wings of his."

"Yes, I think we can manage. Most of the Things are dead for now, it's just a matter of covering Obelisk while he's down." Nate nodded.

"Right. Thanks," Werr smiled. "And Nate...if we don't get out of this alive...tell my father that he's stupid...but I love him anyways. Okay?"

Nate smiled. "Of course, your majesty."

Welk flew over and brushed up against Nate, saying "See you around, Froggy," with a wink. He fluttered back to Werr as Luen and Forin approached. "We would like to help," the kirin said. "We'll provide the cover you'll need to get close to Malice. You'll only have one shot." His bright emerald eyes were full of determination as he said "We won't fail you."

Cynyr gave a nod, saying "We won't fail you either."

The kirin smiled at him, then touched Werr's shoulder and said "I'm sorry for how I acted before to you. It...wasn't right of me. You've been a good friend this whole time, ever since I first met you and the others. If not for you, I would've continued on my way and never found my true family. I...would've died." He closed his eyes, then said "Let's go." He took deer form, pawing the ground with a back leg and gesturing at Forin to get on.

"Right," Forin nodded and climbed on, looking down at Werr with his usual sulky glare. "You know, Werr...for a human, you're alright." He said, smirking a bit as Werr grinned.

"Thanks, Forin. Now let's get moving." Werr nodded once, moving over to Naybrin. "Hey, guys?" He said to the entire group, smiling slightly still. "I just thought you should know...it's been fun. I hope that we make it out of this alive."

Naybrin bent his head down, giving Werr a gentle nudge before saying "Let us fly, then." He released a deafening roar, a roar that boomed across the sky and let all the world for hundreds upon hundreds know that the First King was joining a battle. He crouched, letting his heart-bond partner onto his back, then he plunged straight through the wall to the outside world.

Which was in complete mayhem.

The sky was as red as blood, with dark black clouds floating by. Wind was blowing as if a tornado was going off, trees were being ripped apart, and entire sections of the ground had ripped away.

"He's tearing the world apart," Forin gasped as Luen jumped through the hole Naybrin had made. Akin to that of the two gauntlets raging war against each other, the world itself was clashing; the air and blowing winds tore into the ground, while the nearby lakes appeared to be growing muddy and filthy. Werr looked out to the forests on his left, realizing that the black clouds were actually smoke; fires ravaged the trees, burning them to ash.

"Skies above..." Werr murmured, looking at all the damage. Then he looked up. "MALICE! Where are you, coward?!"

A ferocious burst of thunder rang out, and it took them a moment to realize that it was...laughter. "You cannot best me now, child!" Malice's voice rang out, and they all looked up in time to see and huge storm cloud take a shape.

The demon lord formed, bigger than ever, in the sky.

"I am all powerful!" he shouted, laughing manically. Made of billowing black clouds, he had piercing red eyes that seemed to be made of smaller clouds, with huge black horns and thick wings, and a single glowing point in his chest.

"He's taking the magic from the land," Cynyr said, pressing one hand to the ground for a moment. "He's stealing the life from everything!"

"We've got to stop him. Naybrin, get us in there!" Werr called over the howl of the wind. He looked down at Welk, sitting in his Gauntleted hand. "Are you ready, little brother?" He questioned, finding it hard to smile at the moment. Not when Malice was glaring them down, sucking the lifeforce of the very world up. "Do...try to stay alive, yeah? For me?"

Welk stared up at Werr for a moment, then flew up and pressed close against his chest, murmuring "For you." He hugged him as tightly as he could, then flew back down and hovered just over the Gauntlet. "No matter what happens, don't stop," he said, his crimson eyes looking right up at Werr. "No matter what. And before you know it, I'll be normal again! Just don't stop."

He held on tight as Naybrin leapt upwards, beating his great wings against the storm.

Welk screamed for a second, throwing his head back, then his voice snapped into silence. It hurt badly, oh how it hurt, but he forced himself to be quiet, determined to bear it until the end. His silver body glowed brighter and brighter, turning a perfect, shinning white.

Then there was a sharp snap and the tinkling sound of glass breaking, and Welk's Spectral form was broken.

The power seemed to explode upwards then, and Welk's screams returned in full force. He was now only a spirit trapped between worlds, kept there only by the power Werr was emitting. If the boy stopped for even a second before they were ready, Welk would vanish; never to be reclaimed. The half-cat's soul twisted upwards, forming a basic shape that was little more than the upper half of a body. No features other than a pair of cloudy crimson eyes showed through the glowing white body. Welk tilted his head down at Werr, tears of pain pouring down the foggy, cloudy face, and gave a single nod.

Werr hesitated. It wasn't his fault, the Gauntlet was starting to build up power again...apparently it knew exactly what they were doing. It was throwing everything it had into this fight. Werr's hand...no, his entire body burned like fire as he forced the Gauntlet to move into position, pointing the palm at Malice.

The blast shattered through the sky, roaring from the Gauntlet with twice the power as before. If Werr could describe it in the future, he would have said it was akin to the voice of a Titan. Loud, full of power and energy, overflowing with incredible magic that he didn't understand. The blast let out an energy beam, of course; firing Welk towards what once had been his.

Welk roared, releasing a feral, full-throated cry that sounded like a lion. Malice jerked his head up, his eyes widening in shock when he saw what was shooting his way. He threw all of his power into a black blast of magic, meaning to throw Welk off course.

And he did.

Welk screamed as the blast sent him flying off in a different direction, but through sheer will-power he managed to turn around. But there was no way in now, and his power was growing weaker. He needed an opening, and quickly. He arched in circles around Malice, desperate to find a way in before he faded away forever.

A blast of wind tore at Malice, making him snarl. Cynyr raced past on his air wings, hitting Malice with everything he had in him.

Down below, Luen flung his arms out, forming thick bridges of ice that raced upwards, wrapping around Malice's body and attempting to jab spikes into him. Naybrin was even attacking, releasing a torrent of blue flames out at the demon lord.

Werr sent out blast after blast, but the Gauntlet itself grew weary. Werr felt like he was about to drop dead, he was so drained of all energy. He could only grip the dragon beneath him and order the next move for the Gauntlet. If they could all focus their attacks on one point, perhaps the Gauntlet might be able to give Welk an extra boost...Werr paused his torrent and charged up one final beam of light. He could only charge for about three seconds before throwing it, hoping the others would know what to do from there.

All attacks suddenly focused right on Werr's blast. Cynyr pinpointed where it would land and shouted "There! Give everything you have, right there!" He flung his remaining, faltering powers outwards, even as his wings flickered and disappeared, sending him plummeting downwards.

Welk arched around, joining in with Werr's blast as Naybrin combined his fire with Luen's ice and Cynyr's wind, sending all three elements right into Malice's chest. The entire world rumbled as the blast struck home, tearing a gaping hole in the dark lord's body.

And Welk plunged in.

The resulting sound could only be remembered as horrible. The most heartwrenching cry ever ripped forth, echoing out across the entire land. Even far off in Kaislun, it was heard. An explosive cloud went up, covering everything from sight, and wind whipped powerfully around in circles. Light shone out from the center, nearly blinding them all, then everything just went still.

It started to rain, filling the misty air with the sound of drops splattering.

It was just...silent. No noise, no voices, no more magic surging.

Nothing.

Forin watched and waited as Luen walked to where he could be closer to the others. Werr slumped forward, drained and unable to keep himself upright any longer. The Gauntlet, however, wouldn't have that; it hummed and Werr felt a trickle of energy pushed into him. Just enough to get back on his feet, but he still desperately needed rest. "Find Welk, find Welk," Werr's thoughts told Naybrin enough of what needed to be done after the first king had secured Cynyr in his paws.